Friday, June 5, 2009

What's Your Footprint?

Last week, we took our little dog, Charlie for a walk around our neighborhood. Out of the nearby woods came out a deer (not unusual for where we live) and upon noticing Charlie, he came closer and closer. The two of them must have been a foot away from each other. The deer was examining Charlie without any fear towards us or him. This was such a surreal scene that a car driving by stopped to see what was going on. I still can’t get that picture out of my mind, the deer and Charlie eyeing each other with gentleness and respect, or so I’d like to think! Later on my husband and I were still wondering what that was all about. I’d like to think of it as Charlie being Charlie and attracting the same kind of attention from the deer. Charlie has a way with all beings, everyone seems to really like him and think of him as super sweet and innocent. If you looked up the word, non-threatening, there’d be a picture of Charlie. I think of this sweetness and innocence as Charlie’s footprint on life. It’s something that he is, without expectation, awareness, conditioning, or effort.

Often we think of what we leave behind in terms of the work we do, our children, our accomplishments, etc. What is something that is so you, that you wouldn’t even consciously be aware of that you experience and express consistently? What is it that someone who is close to you would miss about you after you were gone? What is that intimate something that only those intimately known to you would describe about you? What is your footprint? If you are not sure, how would you find out?

When we become aware of our footprint, we recognize our true SELF. It is those moments that we spend experiencing and expressing our true SELF that is when we are in our bliss. We are in our zone and those around us like us the most.

The inspiration behind this post came from a new song by my all time favorite band, Depeche Mode. Enjoy the lyrics and I hope it makes you think about what your footprint might be.